Do You Get in Your Own Way When Looking for Freelance Work?

When you are looking for freelance work, are there some potential clients that you don’t approach because you feel intimidated in some way? Sometimes it can be easy to talk yourself out of throwing your hat into the ring. You might consider that there may be several other people who are applying for the opportunity. You may also have doubts about your abilities, even if you have written for pay before (and will again). Mostly, though, you just plain don’t feel good enough to write for [fill in the blank here].

You have a couple of choices in this situation: You can move on and apply for something that is not such a stretch, or you can present yourself in the best possible way and see what happens. If your dream freelance writing gig is to write for such-and-such a client but you want to get some more experience first, then you can look for opportunities that will give you the experience you need to eventually make a pitch to the client or type of clients you ultimately want.

The other choice you have is to apply anyway and see what happens. If you don’t get hired, they may keep your information for other assignments, or you might get some valuable feedback. You may get hired for something else that is a better fit for you right now.

The person looking over your resume and samples only sees what you have on paper. They have no idea whether you found it difficult to apply for that gig or not. I can’t guarantee whether a particular client will hire you, but I can guarantee that if you don’t apply, you have no chance of getting the gig.

When applying for something that I doubt I will be hired for, I have found that the best thing I can do is to research as much about the client as I can beforehand. Then I pitch my resume and cover letter to their specific needs.